Field investigation of the auto market during the National Day Golden Week: Multiple brands roll out time-limited car purchase benefits

"We don't want the free 'Sapphire' you're offering, just deduct it directly from the car price and give us a bigger discount."

On October 1, at a Deepal dealership in Hangzhou, Chen Xiao (pseudonym) was purchasing a car accompanied by his family. After multiple comparisons, he set his sights on the Deepal S05 520 Intelligent Premium Laser Edition, which has a guide price of 141,900 yuan. However, Chen Xiao had his own psychological expectation, hoping that the final on-road price, including purchase tax and insurance fees, could be discounted to 133,000 yuan. The salesperson did not want to miss the deal, repeatedly emphasizing that the quoted price was already the rock-bottom price, and tried to fill the gap between the offer and Chen Xiao's expected price by giving away other benefits to close the transaction.

A notable phenomenon is that after the start of the "National Day Golden Week", the booming consumer sentiment has not transmitted much to the automotive market. The number of visitors at several dealerships visited by Time Finance was low, sales staff used very cautious promotional pitches, frequently mentioned vehicle residual value retention rate, and discounts were mostly concentrated in the optional configuration segment. During conversations, several salespeople stated that the current price has very limited room for flexibility: "If we give too large a discount, the market price will be messed up, and it will be even harder to sell cars later."

Deepal and Tesla Offer Direct Cash Discounts, ZEEKR and Xiaomi Focus on Optional Configuration Benefits

The Deepal S05 (520 Intelligent Premium Laser Edition) that Chen Xiao took a fancy to is a compact SUV launched in August this year, a pure electric intelligent high-spec version with a guide price of 141,900 yuan. A salesperson at the dealership told Time Finance that multiple Deepal models currently have discounts: the low-spec version of the S05 has a 4,000-yuan manufacturer discount, and the high-spec version has a 7,000-yuan discount; in addition, there is an additional 3,000-yuan dealership discount.

Calculated in this way, the Deepal S05 520 Intelligent Premium Laser Edition can enjoy a total discount of 10,000 yuan, bringing the bare car price down to 131,900 yuan. Time Finance saw on the price list provided by the salesperson that after stacking various items such as purchase tax, insurance, regional subsidies, and loan discounts, the on-road price of the vehicle Chen Xiao is purchasing is 135,000 yuan, which still leaves a gap from his expected price of 133,000 yuan.

The game entered a critical moment, and the salesperson offered the "Sapphire" benefit worth 1,000 yuan. "Sapphire" refers to the points of Deepal Auto, which can be consumed in the Deepal mall, for example, directly redeeming maintenance packages, optional configurations, etc. But this did not impress Chen Xiao. Compared with point benefits, he prefers real cash discounts.

In fact, Deepal Auto is already one of the few brands that offer both manufacturer and dealership subsidies. At the ZEEKR dealership one street away, the salesperson said directly that ZEEKR has not formulated many preferential policies for the National Day Golden Week.

Taking the ZEEKR 007 (Rear-Wheel Drive Max Version) as an example, this model has a guide price of 203,900 yuan and currently enjoys a 14,000-yuan subsidy. When Time Finance further asked about the specific breakdown of the subsidy, the salesperson said directly: "Don't bother about what the discount is, the invoice price after subsidy is 189,900 yuan." As for the "insurance subsidy of up to 12,000 yuan" mentioned in the promotional copy, the salesperson said it is already included in the aforementioned 14,000-yuan subsidy.

In addition, there is a lottery activity for car purchases now, with a 100% winning rate, and the maximum prize is a 10,000-kWh electricity card. The discount for optional configurations is significantly higher. Time Finance saw on the official mini-program that purchasing the entire new ZEEKR 007 series in October can get a free exterior color worth 6,000 yuan, and a free upgrade to the Qianli Haohan H7 G-ASD Advanced Intelligent Driving System worth 35,000 yuan; it also enjoys a series of discounts, for example, the full-car intelligent sensing frameless automatic door has a limited-time preferential price of 7,500 yuan, less than 47% of the original price.

Take ZEEKR 9X as another example. All users who pay a 20,000-yuan deposit during October can enjoy a 10,000-yuan insurance subsidy and a 10,000-yuan super trade-in allowance, which are both deducted when paying the final payment. In terms of configuration, electric pedals, wing-shaped sliding screens, Naim Premier Sound System and other configurations worth more than 120,000 yuan are given for free.

Xiaomi's discounts are also focused on optional configurations. According to the dealership salesperson, if you place an order before October 7, the Pengcheng N70 series can enjoy up to 67,000 yuan of car purchase benefits, the N90 Max has up to 81,000 yuan of car purchase benefits, and the N90 Max Explorer Edition has up to 43,000 yuan of benefits; the SU7 Standard Edition / Pro enjoys 42,000 yuan of car purchase benefits, and the SU7 Max has a benefit quota of 61,000 yuan.

Image source: Time Finance

Several standing signs have been set up at the Tesla dealership, with various preferential policies printed on them. Time Finance found when selecting cars that placing an order for specified versions of models before October 31 (inclusive) can enjoy a 7,000-yuan limited-time final payment reduction. Taking the Tesla Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive Standard Range version as an example, the price after discount is 256,500 yuan.

NIO Talks About Residual Value, XPENG Highlights Intelligent Driving, Li Auto Gives Away Points

Compared with holiday discounts, sales staff of "NIO, XPENG and Li Auto" are more willing to talk about technical advantages and residual value retention rate first, and then talk about prices.

At the XPENG dealership in Shanghai Lujiazui Center, the salesperson kept emphasizing that intelligent driving is XPENG's core advantage, and strongly recommended that car buyers take a test drive first and talk about the price after they are satisfied.

During the conversation, the salesperson told Time Finance that the best-selling XPENG model before was the M03, a sedan with a starting price of 119,800 yuan; but now consumers prefer SUVs, and the L03 with a starting price of 123,800 yuan has taken over the baton of best-seller. "Because it is relatively cheap, it is basically bought by young people for commuting. If you have requirements for interior texture, this model is not recommended."

Image source: Time Finance

Time Finance saw on the official mini-program that during October, all XPENG models enjoy car purchase benefits and optional configuration discounts. For example, the GX has a 10,000-yuan limited-time final payment reduction; the G7, G6 and G9 enjoy car purchase subsidies, with the former two having a maximum subsidy of 8,000 yuan and the G9 having a 12,000-yuan subsidy; the L03 enjoys a limited-time car purchase benefit of two options, namely the interest-free financial plan or 30,000 points, and the M03 also has an additional 1,000-yuan optional configuration coupon on this basis.

"We don't have many other discounts, the prices are very transparent." A salesperson at the NIO dealership directly showed Time Finance the internal Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day dual-holiday policy issued by the company, saying that the policy was actually released long ago, and the gift cards and coupons given away are all related to the car mall and NIOLife. "The total value of these benefits is about 5,000 yuan, and the vehicle price follows the official guidance."

The NIO salesperson at Century Link Plaza holds a similar statement. He told Time Finance that the current best-selling NIO model is the ES8, and users who lock their orders before October 31 (inclusive) can enjoy a 10,000-yuan limited-time optional configuration fund.

The release of LeDao's preferential policies is obviously a little later. On September 30, LeDao sales staff told Time Finance that there are no preferential prices for the models at the dealership for the time being, and there may be some giveaways in the optional configuration segment during the National Day holiday, such as a trunk refrigerator worth more than 2,000 yuan. "NIO's residual value retention rate is pretty good, and the price generally does not fluctuate too much."

The next day, the salesperson said that the October activity plan had been released: first, 96 battery swap vouchers worth 5,000 yuan in cash will be given away; second, users with interest-bearing loans ranging from 20,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan can get a 4,000-yuan cash discount; third, half-price for optional configurations.

At the Li Auto dealership, the salesperson said that Li Auto has auto show activities during the National Day holiday, and car buyers will get 5,000 to 8,000 points, which can be used to purchase vehicle supporting products in the mall or to deduct vehicle charging fees. When Time Finance asked about the specific details of the auto show, the salesperson said directly: "The location of the auto show has not been notified, but everyone is eligible to participate in the activity by default."

According to him, the current best-selling Li Auto model is the i6, and the last display car in the store has been sold recently. The new model will be launched at the end of October. "For Li Auto's cars, only the limited-time discount price when they are just launched is the most cost-effective. The last display car also had a discount, which may be about 7,000 yuan cheaper, plus some points and small gifts."

Fourth Quarter "Harvest Rush" Is Imminent, Automakers Sprint for Annual Sales Targets

Overall, entering the fourth quarter, automakers have entered the critical period of sprinting for full-year performance, and the "harvest rush" battle has already begun. To maintain the stability of the price system while boosting terminal transaction volume, automakers can only focus their marketing breakthroughs on the optional configuration benefit segment.

Judging from the September performance, XPENG delivered 41,256 new cars in September, a month-on-month increase of 5%. In the first three quarters, its cumulative delivery of new cars reached 284,267 units, a year-on-year decrease of 9.24%. If calculated based on the lower target of 550,000 units, XPENG still needs to complete a delivery target of 266,000 units in the fourth quarter, equivalent to about 89,000 units per month.

NIO delivered 37,408 new cars in September, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%. In the first three quarters, NIO delivered a total of 300,301 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 49.2%, and all three major brands hit record highs. Among them, the NIO brand delivered 181,988 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 63.4%; the LeDao brand delivered 70,191 new cars, and the firefly brand delivered 48,122 new cars.

At the beginning of the year, Li Bin, founder of NIO, set an annual sales growth target of 40% to 50%. Calculated based on this, the company's full-year sales target is 456,000 to 489,000 units. If this standard is followed, to achieve the 40% year-on-year growth target, NIO still needs to complete a sales volume of about 156,000 units in the fourth quarter.

Driven by the launch of the Pengcheng series, Xiaomi Auto's delivery volume in September exceeded 40,000 units, an increase compared with the delivery volume of over 30,000 units in July and August, and the total delivery in the third quarter exceeded 100,000 units. In the first half of this year, Xiaomi's cumulative delivery reached 185,000 units, equivalent to 34% of the full-year delivery target of 550,000 units. This means that Xiaomi needs to deliver about 365,000 new cars in the second half of the year to meet the target, with a monthly average delivery volume of more than 60,000 units.

Looking at Li Auto, it delivered 31,817 new cars in September, with a cumulative delivery of 293,436 units in the first three quarters, a year-on-year decrease of 1.25%. Calculated based on the annual growth target of 20% and annual sales of nearly 490,000 units set at the beginning of the year, it needs to complete about 197,000 units in the fourth quarter, with a monthly average of about 66,000 units.

Image source: Time Finance

ZEEKR is the closest to its full-year target. Public information shows that ZEEKR's full-year sales target is 300,000 units. Its total delivery in the first three quarters reached 288,404 units, with the progress bar reaching 96%. It only needs an average monthly delivery of less than 4,000 units in the remaining three months to meet the target.

The Passenger Car Market Information Joint Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association once pointed out in a report that in previous years, the "Golden September" saw a general rise in the overall market, with first-time purchase and replacement demands released together, and both fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles could get a share of the incremental market. This year is a stock game where the rise of one comes with the fall of another, the increment is basically concentrated in the new energy sector, and there seems to be no new demand for fuel vehicles.

However, judging from the performance results released by various automakers, the market performance in September seems somewhat unexpected. More importantly, public data shows that more than 60 new cars were launched in September, and the pool of players in different price ranges continues to expand. Their delivery conversion performance will be the key focus of subsequent attention.

In the next three months, market competition is likely to become even more fierce.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Time Finance APP" (ID: tf